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You ever play a score and for the first few times it mainly catches your ears whenever either action music is on or a main theme is being declared? But then after awhile, the more subdued pieces begin catching your attention?

Not specifically referring to a particular score, just something that's been on the mind this evening.

The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) by Howard Shore: A chamber-sized pensive documentary score with terrific choral writing and lovely cello solos by Sophie Shao and that patented Shore melancholy in nearly every stave.

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It's pretty good actually. Other than production design and cast, the only thing I enjoyed about the film. Having said that, I'm not so sure about 95 minutes of score release album... So while some bits might be bit on the generic side there is still plenty to choose from to create your own custom playlist. But the strongest stuff is among MCU's most distinctive material.

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Black Panther by Ludwig Goransson. Giving it a second more careful listen which does reveal more themes and detail. I'm liking this more and more. It does sounds like something. It proves that Creed from the same composer was no accident. This fella knows what he's doing. The score might perhaps lack what you'd call a main superhero theme but it's stylistic choices are compelling enough for me not to be bored. One of the main is more a percussive idea and feels more like a ritualistic chant (and it is used in that context as well). That in itself is a big thing because the film is 96 minutes long and I'm not sure whether that isn't the entire score (must be very close to complete). The orchestral writing is strong and focused and the vocal material is also very inspired (both solo and choral). It's a first strong entry in 2018 and one of the finest MCU scores to date. I liked Mark Mothersbaugh's Thor: Ragnarok quite a bit but this is even better.